Raiders boss wanted trainer crackdown before grand final

Raiders chief executive Don Furner advocated for trainers to spend less time on the field long before the grand-final debacle and wants to explore repeat offenders being penalised mid-match to stop the "blight" on the game.

NRL chief executives will meet this month and Furner will be armed with fresh ammunition to crack down on trainers lingering in back-play after a major flashpoint in the Roosters' triumph over Canberra on Sunday night.

The long-time Raiders boss has previously lobbied for the NRL to reduce the amount of time trainers spend between the lines.

Furner even wants to ask whether serial loiterers should be sanctioned during the game, after Roosters trainer Travis Touma was struck with the ball in a freak accident in the opening minutes of the grand final.

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A Luke Keary kick ricocheted off the head of Raiders veteran Sia Soliola and collected Touma. The Roosters retained possession under an "archaic rule" that rewards the team with a territorial advantage. It is unclear whether Touma had rendered medical treatment to a Roosters player before Keary's kick and why he was still on the park.

It was a bitter pill to swallow as Canberra's grand-final heroes were welcomed back by fans in the nation's capital on Tuesday.

It's been a pet hate. It doesn't need to be in the game, but it's crept in and stayed in. I've said it well before the incident.

Don Furner

The Raiders did not touch the ball again until after Roosters rookie Sam Verrills had dived over from close range. It was arguably a sequence of events that had a bigger effect on the game than the contentious "six-again" controversy.

Asked about the regularity of trainers staying on the field, Furner said: "I've raised it a number of times. It's been a pet hate. It doesn't need to be in the game, but it's crept in and stayed in. I've said it well before the incident [in the grand final].

"That rule is archaic and was made when trainers weren't spending half their time on the field. Regardless of what happened on the weekend, it's been a blight on the game for a long time.

"Trainers aren't standing out there treating any injuries or even giving out drinks, they're standing out there directing the attack and passing messages on. That's what they're for. It would be very easy to clean that up. At the end of the day, those rules are easy - you stop the game and penalise them.

Don Furner has long advocated for a change to rules governing how long trainers can spend on the field.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"You don't need 15 people on the field [per team]. We made a massive effort on the fifth tackle, a great charge down, and we get no reward for it. In fact, we're penalised for it."

The NRL is set to examine the rule over when a ball contacts a trainer - and the presence of support staff on the field - in coming weeks.

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has touted the possibility of simplifying some of the game's rules to make officiating easier.

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The Raiders were presented to their loyal supporters at Belconnen after a long journey along a clogged Hume Highway, which was affected by traffic accidents.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has shied away from buying into the officiating controversy, preferring not to detract from the Roosters' feat of winning back-to-back titles. Trent Robinson's side was the first to achieve that in 26 years.

Stuart told Raiders fans he was "proud to be a Canberran" after the Raiders' season, as stars Jack Wighton, Josh Papalii and Nick Cotric were named in Mal Meninga's Kangaroos squad for end-of-season Tests against New Zealand and Tonga.